Tuesday, July 21, 2009

National Reciprocity

The New York Times has once again demonstrated its knee-jerk opposition to armed self-defense by licensed adults in yesterday's editorial, Gun Crazy In The Senate. The editorial cites a study by the Violence Policy Center:

Between May 2007 and April 2009, people holding concealed handgun permits killed at least seven police officers and 44 private citizens, according to a new study by the Violence Policy Center, a gun control advocacy organization. Other examples of crimes committed by concealed-carry licensees are plentiful.

Alphecca has an outstanding post on this and I recommend it. I will only add that:1) the VPC study is based on news reports, not official records2) the VPC study does not say how many of these 51 deaths involved guns.3) the VPC study does not say how many of these incidents resulted in arrests.4) the VPC study does not say how many of these incidents resulted in convictions.

One of Jeff's links goes to a Volokh Conspiracy discussion of this same subject from four months ago. The discussion string contains wonderful links to CCW resources. But the best comment was this one, which neatly encapsulates the attitude of the NYT towards CCW:

"From a certain point of view" the rate of violent crime by CCW permit holders approaches 100%. That point of view being that it is a malum in se violent crime for a private citizen to carry a handgun, and that the permit doesn't make it a non-crime, but merely a crime that has been legalized by a barbaric government.

About Me

And You Can Quote Me!

"If you've got to resist, your chances of being hurt are less the more lethal your weapon. If that were my wife, would I want her to have a .38 Special in her hand? Yeah." - Dr. Arthur Kellermann, Health Magazine (March/April 1994) p 61